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Pellegrini comments to be investigated by UEFA

Manuel Pellegrini is to be investigated over comments he made about referee Jonas Eriksson after Manchester City's 2-0 defeat to Barcelona.

City saw Martin Demichelis sent off early in the second half of the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 clash on Tuesday, with Lionel Messi opening the scoring from the resulting penalty.

Dani Alves doubled Barcelona's lead late on, but Pellegrini questioned the impartiality of the Swedish official following the final whistle, and UEFA have now confirmed they are to look into the remarks.

A statement from European football's governing body read: "UEFA has mandated a disciplinary inspector to commence an investigation concerning the press interviews given by the Manchester City FC head coach Manuel Luis Pellegrini to media after the above-mentioned match.

"Based on the outcome of this investigation, a decision will be taken on whether disciplinary proceedings will be opened."

Speaking after the match, Pellegrini told Sky Sports: "Of course I have a complaint, for the whole match I feel we didn't have a referee who was partial for both teams.

"It was not a good idea to put a referee from Sweden in charge of such an important game."

Eriksson previously endured the wrath of Barca captain Carles Puyol and former boss Pep Guardiola following a Champions League quarter-final clash with Milan in 2012, and Pellegrini believed his appointment for this fixture was an error.

"I think it was a mistake to nominate a referee who had previously had problems with Barcelona in the past," he continued. "We had the same referee and once again he made mistakes."